Superbet Holding SA unveils ambitious global expansion plans

Romanian land-based an online sportsbook operator Superbet Holding SA is reportedly planning to initiate a global expansion campaign that could eventually see it launch its services into multiple Asian markets and the United States.

According to a Wednesday report from the Bloomberg news service, the revelation came via an interview with the Bucharest-headquartered company’s Chief Executive Officer, Johnny Hartnett (pictured), some three years after American private equity management firm The Blackstone Group Incorporated paid approximately €175 million ($195 million) in order to acquire an unspecified minority stake in the bookmaker.

Remarkable returns:

Superbet Holding SA is reportedly already active in ten European jurisdictions including Romania, Poland and Croatia and last year chalked up aggregated revenues of about €1 billion ($1.1 billion) alongside an associated profit of approximately €200 million ($223 million). A former executive at Paddy Power Betfair, Hartnett purportedly explained that his enterprise intends to begin its ambitious expansion program later this year in hopes of being able to launch into the Canadian market by the end of December.

Hartnett reportedly told Bloomberg…

“We want a situation where, ultimately, the sun never sets on the Superbet Holding SA empire. Anywhere in the world where there’s a regulated gaming market, we want to be there.”

Accelerating arena:

Established by Romanian entrepreneur Sasha Dragic in 2008, Superbet Holding SA reportedly offers sportsbetting afficionados the ability to place wagers on a wide range of action including games from Europe’s vast collection of football leagues. The operator is now purportedly hoping to garner a larger share of a global iGaming market that Grand View Research recently predicted to could be worth up to €125 billion ($140 billion) by 2028.

Conceivable call:

Superbet Holding SA acquired rival operator Napoleon Sports and Casino, which is the third largest player in the sportsbetting market of Belgium, in July and reportedly disclosed that its core market doubled in size last year as the coronavirus pandemic played a large role in keeping aficionados at home and away from more traditional retail sportsbooks. Hartnett purportedly pronounced that he does not expect his company to take on ‘much more financing to deliver our growth ambitions’ but could appeal to The Blackstone Group Incorporated or even contemplate a public float should more cash be required.

Public peer:

Regarding this latter possibility and Bloomberg finished by noting that Polish bookmaker STS Holding SA raised in the region of €237 million ($264 million) in December after listing on the Warsaw bourse although its shares are currently trading at around 5% below their initial float price.

Hartnett reportedly proclaimed…

“We’ve got a kind of an open remit about what the next stage of our capital structure looks like and really what we’re trying to do is focus on top-line growth and focus on making sure that the business stays healthy and profitable.”